About Us:

Two Friends LLC is DollU: run by Karen & Mary

Karen Shifton

Karen grew up in the Pacific Northwest. She is the eldest daughter in a family that has always believed in the value of items fashioned by hand. Her mother sewed, her grandmother knitted, and her dad whittled and created new tools out of old ones. Her aunts tried just about every craft known, before settling into quilting. Karen made cloth dolls as a hobby, to create a few presents for her children, later successfully marketing in the many busy craft fairs of Seattle.

Cloth dolls became a more serious outlet for her artistic endeavors when she discovered that making them encompassed many distinct skills. She incorporates knowledge from childhood lessons plus college training in drawing, painting and sculpture. Part of the challenge has been to create something exceptional from what is nearby, and to do it in an original way.

Over the years Karen’s dolls have received various awards and recognition throughout the US and Canada. After many years making dolls for the retail market Karen expanded into the realm of pattern designing and teaching. She welcomes each teaching engagement as an opportunity to meet other doll makers and to share her knowledge of dolls. The purpose of Karen’s dolls has always been to make life a little more lighthearted and less serious. She has expanded this principle and now includes teaching students new skills and adding to their confidence. She has and continues to make her creatures in the Puget Sound area of Washington state, where she lives with her husband, daughter, her dog snickers, and an old cat.

Karen's website can be found by clicking here http://ClothMagic.com

Mary Stanton

Mary Stanton, owner of the Calico Cat and Bernina too!, opened the store October 12, 1992, with only 600 bolts of fabrics, some books, notions, patterns and classes. Since then the shop has grown and moved, and is now in it's third location. The store features a variety of classes in each of the cloth crafts that it specializes in such as quilting, cloth doll making, embellishments, and other needle arts. It now has over 2500 bolts of fabrics, hundreds of books, patterns, samples, their own printed pattern designs. The store was featured in Better Homes and Gardens and awarded the title of a "Top Shop" in 1999. She has organized local classes by creative teachers from all over the nation, with a focus on basic quilt and cloth doll making skills. Through The Calico Cat and Bernina Too, Mary has organized three "Doll Symposiums" which have featured national teacher and focused on making cloth dolls using a variety of materials including different cloths, beads, polymer clay, and other media. Mary was taught to sew by her paternal grandmother and for years made all her own clothes. " Cloth dolls have always been a fascination for me and upon opening The Calico Cat, I have fulfilled a dream of learning to create figures in cloth"

Mary's website can be found by clicking here http://TheCalicoCat.com

Two Friends, LLC

Together Karen and Mary bring years of doll making and organizational skills which will give attendees an exciting and challenging event. All participants will not just learn, but have fun developing new talents in different cloth media. We never leave anyone unsatisfied. We also value and protect your privacy and will never share your private information with ANYONE!

Doll University, DollU, Camp DollU